Sylvan Esso Live on KCRW: “Coffee”

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Photo by Larry Hirshowitz

I had only heard glowing reviews of their performance at Coachella before Sylvan Esso arrived in our studio.

After seeing them myself at the Troubadour last year, I knew what we were in store for – Amelia Meath is an unrivaled frontwoman when it comes to delivering a performance you can’t keep your eyes off of, without ANY tricks whatsoever.

It’s just her. Her supreme confidence. Her slightly weird, but beguiling dance moves. And that voice. Clear as a bell at 11am, which isn’t as easy as it sounds after a weekend of breathing dust in the desert.

We were thoroughly impressed with their set and implored then to record a new song once we got off the air, but they weren’t ready to share quite yet (though they are playing it in live shows)

They’ve been touring nonstop, but hope to start work on a new record soon.

The duo first came together when Amelia (a former backing singer for Feist via her band Mountain Man) solicited Nick Sanborn to remix one of her acapella tracks. The partnership was so successful that they decided to keep going. That initial remix of “Play it Right” made it on their debut and the rest is history.

If you want to hear about where the name came from, I recommend listening to their comical interview with Host Chris Douridas. Find the full session here.

Sylvan Esso Live on KCRW – Tracklist

“Coffee”
“Dress”
“Could I Be”
“Uncatena”
“Hey Mami”
“ H.S.K.T.”
“Play it Right”
“Wolf”